08/11/1992 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e At the suggestion of Mr. Boles, the council agreed to review those discussion items involving larger dollar amounts. The council discussed Component 23A, Building Permits/Plan Checking (Increase Fees 63 Percent; realizes $1,050,000). Mr. Rutan asked how the council's current targets for cost recovery related to the recommendations made by the Building Construction Advisory Committee Task Team (BCACTT). Mr. Mounts said that the strategy component assumes 100 percent cost-recovery through fees, a 63 percent increase over current levels. The City is currently at about 65 percent of full cost-recovery. He said that the BCACTT recommendation would realize about $500,000 in savings to the General Fund. In response to a question from Mr. Rutan, Mr. Robinette said that the task team recommended that General Fund support be halved. Responding to a request for clarification from Mr. Miller, Mr. Gleason said that the task team recommended approximately 45 percent increases in fees, charging for certain City services that are provided free at the current time, and other operational changes to provide the savings to the General Fund. Ms. Ehrman pointed out that the council had an adopted policy regarding cost recovery for services. Mr. Boles said that the Developmental Services Financing Study had examined the City's current level of support for such services as those offered by the Permit and Information Center (PIC). The e study identified the proportion of those costs that should be borne by the private sector and established a changeover plan with a net impact across five years of $2 million on the General Fund. Mr. Boles said that the target proposed by the task team was considerably below the council's adopted target. He added that the City was implementing the study over a period of years to avoid a sudden impact on the community. The figure in Component 23A repre- sented those dollars not yet realized under the council's policy. Ms. Bascom said that the other cost-saving recommendations in the task team's report should be considered by the council. Mr. MacDonald agreed, and said the council should look to a mix of approaches to reduce the costs of the service to the General Fund. He suggested such an effort would take several years. Mr. Boles said that Component 23A reflected the council's current policy. Mr. Nicholson said the argument at the core of the task team's report was that some proportion of the functions of the center were services to the public and not to the developer, and that the public should be responsible for those costs. If costs could be reduced through efficiencies and "doing things differently," the cost to the public could be reduced. Mr. Nicholson asked Mr. Boles how the council policy addressed the issue raised by the task team. In response, Mr. Boles said that the Developmental Services Financing Study e MINUTES--City Council Work Session August 11, 1992 Page 4 5:30 p.m.